All Forum Posts by: Tom Cooper

Here are some of the larger, more established groups that meet regularly around Houston (I have attended all but one).  Many of these are announced here on BP and on Meetup.com

Houston Real Deal - Monthly led by @Charles Nguyen here on BP

Jet Lending Big Event Monthly 

RICH Club - long established club with many events - first meeting free then it is a paid membership - contact @Belinda Lopez here on BP

Wealth  Club - first meeting free then it is a paid membership

Lifestyles Unlimited - first introductory meeting free then it is a paid membership 

Great Post @Account Closed,  If only more people could have that focus when they are young and starting out.  Yes, as you and others have said, the expenses are the first thing you can immediately control, then work on income and investing.  Another great read to help simplify your finances and reduce spending, have an emergency fund, reduce/eliminate debt is Dave Ramseys "Total Money Makeover".  While I dont agree with 100% (eliminate mortgage debt), his focus on eliminating other debt (over 100 million Americans have credit cards they dont pay off every month and are paying 15-21% interest), having an emergency fund, and using cash for some expenses (it is more painful to peel off bills than to swipe a card) would improve the finances of 95% of Americans.

@Christopher Winkler, you are completely out of line calling @Scott Carson names as you have done!   While there may be shysters in the real estate education business, Scott Carson is not one of them!   You and I have talked privately, and you never once mentioned anything of substance that Scott had done to mislead, BS, or shyster you.   I have spoken with five more of his Mastermind students, and every one of them are making money in note investing, believe Scott's training and Mastermind is a worthwhile investment, and as far as I can tell, all will be continuing as a part of the group.  Furthermore, when I was first considering Scott's training, I did extensive research, both on this forum and elsewhere, and really found no complaints.  That is extraordinary, given the number of students he has trained since 2008.   So, Chris, in this instance you are a lone voice crying out against many with an opposite view.

As for my personal experience with Scott and his training, when I first got interested in Note investing back in June, I sent Scott an email with some questions. HE CALLED ME and we had a 30 minute conversation, and I had never spent a dime with him. How many real estate educators, coaches, gurus do that? Since that time I have attended his Note Camp, his Virtual Note Buying for Dummies course, and been on a number of his free Monday webinars. After having now spent probably 60-80 hours in listening to Scott, I have never once heard him claim note investing was easy, took no effort, or was a get-rich-quick plan! To the contrary, he repeatedly tells his students that nothing will happen unless they get out and do something!!! He also spends a great deal of time on the importance of due diligence, how to perform it, what to look out for, and how to price your offers. If people are out there paying 70% for NPN's they are either not students of Scott, or aren't following his teaching. He offers tons of content, help, advice, support, he will get on the phone with you, but he can't do it for you. Just like every other variation of real estate investing, any other business start up, some will succeed and some will fail. Most of those who fail either had no plan, a bad plan, or failed to execute the plan. It sounds from your exchange that you fall into the third category.

Am I a part of Scott's Mastermind Group? No, I am not, but there is a high probability I will be at some point.  Although it has taken me a while, I this week closed on my very first note.  It would not have happened without Scott and the great training he has offered at a very reasonable cost.  I believe I will build a viable, profitable business in note investing.  Thank you Scott!

Lastly, Scott brings into his training programs a large number of successful, experienced investors, fund managers, and servicers who are some of the top in the industry.  Some of those who are active on this forum include @Dave Van Horn, @Paul Birkett, @Fuquan Bilal, Troy Fullwood, Donna Bauer and many more.  Do you think any of them would risk their reputations by being a part of something lead by the type of person you claim him to be.  I don't think so!!!

Samir,  Where did you get the information on the 2nd?  If that is from the seller, they should be able to give you information on the first as well.  It appears they are making at least partial payments, given the lower balance Nov. 1 versus Oct. 1.    But you really need a lot more information, including occupancy status, full payment history, how long occupied, but especially full info on the first lien, its payment history/status and the real property value.  Assessed value may or may not bear any resemblance to the Fair Market Value, which will be one critical determining factor in whether this is potentially a viable deal for you.  You will also need to know if there are any outstanding liens, bankruptcy, foreclosure actions....in short, to be blunt, you have a small fraction of the needed information.

@Peter Pezzano, What you are referring to goes by a number of term - seller financing, owner financing, seller carryback, and more. What this is referring to is the seller of the property receiving a down payment (typically) and then becoming the lender, by allowing the buyer to pay them over time, rather than the buyer getting a mortgage elsewhere and the seller ending up with all cash. Example - Sales Price $100,000, buyer pays $10,000 down and signs a note for $90,000 at 10%, payable over ten years. The terms can vary widely, can include balloon payments and much more. I am not sure which side of this you are on, but seller financed deals can be found via most of the typical channels - MLS, FSBO, Craigslist, networking, etc. Plug a few of those search terms into the Housing section on your local Craigslist and you should get quite a few hits. Doesn't mean they are a great deal, but there are plenty out there.

You might consider going to Papersourceonline.   They have been in the Note business and education for twenty plus years.  They have a packet of contracts, agreements, and forms that you can buy for a very reasonable fee.

Keep us posted how it goes.

@Lindsay McLaughlin,

Note buyers will look at the down payment in figuring an offering price, and no down payment (or being in 2nd position) will both lower your value substantially.  If you have them priced right, you should be able to find turnkey buyers with a reasonable down payment.

@John Roeder,

First off, if you sell the house without a down payment, the new owner/borrower has no skin in the game, so easy for them to walk. When you sell a note at a discount, it is a discount to the Unpaid balance (UPB), not the total of the remaining payments. So in your scenario, after a year of payments, the payoff on your $100,000 note might be $98000, so if you sold it at 75%, you would only be getting about $74,000. Now if you could find a deal on a home, perhaps rehab it to increase the value, then sell it (with a down payment I would advise), then you might have a workable scenario.

@Scott Byer,  If you are taking out walls, 99% sure you will need a permit.  I am doubtful about you getting an engineer to stamp a set of plans for $300, unless it is very minor.  They take on a lot of liability when they stamp drawings.  Again, without more info on the scope of renovation, it is hard to come up with a figure.  You should get several quotes and you will likely need to show them the plans so they know what you are attempting to do.  Hard to say if the $4500 is reasonable or not, but if you haven't worked with this contractor before or have a lot of strong referrals, I would be hesitant about using his internal architect/engineer.  Not many contractors actually have those internal unless they are really huge construction firms.  Also, I am not sure how long you have been working with the contractor, but if it is more than a few days, this should have been disclosed very early on.  Also, what did he give you as a time frame to get through the City of Houston permitting process?

@Justin Young,  I'm delighted to see a fellow believer post this issue up here.  I appreciate your transparency in sharing your heart here.  Obviously I am so sorry to hear about both your issue and the false charges against FB.  The short answer, is, if you feel the Lord really leading you to help her, then you need to follow His leading.  As @Jonathan Watson pointed out, I concur that you should enter into it in the spirit of helping, and not so much as a business transaction where you expect to get the money back.  That may occur, but with no way of knowing how this ultimately turns out (like most of life), you set yourself up for letdown.  I know you are in prayer, so please continue to pray, and do not get caught up (as I have many times) in limiting God as to how you want the prayers answered.  I leave you with one of my favorite verses, although hard to live out : Proverbs 3:5-6.